There's a good game to be found within the Battlefield 2042 and fun to be had as the spectacle of Battlefield's signature gameplay is taken to new, more expansive heights, but it's marred by a handful of unsuccessful gameplay design changes, hurriedly implemented features and bugs at launch.

My laborious, 10-hour uphill battle with Root Letter ended in the hill giving way to a massive drop into a bottomless ravine, and as I fell through the ravine, I felt regret. I felt pain. I felt aggravation...And I heard the same damned song playing for like a dozen hours until I died.

As a piece of gaming history the Darius Collections are spot on, recreating classic arcade and console games on modern hardware, but they are massively overpriced considering the content. Some games in the Arcade collection are either minor tweaks or ports of a previous versions, so you would have to be a die hard Darius fan to even consider purchasing both collections. The Console collection is by far the better choice due to the single screen design, but aficionados will then miss the classic arcade versions.

Where the Heart Leads offers a supremely compelling and fascinating overall narrative, one that is filled with genuinely meaningful choices – surely a rarity in video games? Unfortunately, its tall tale is also bogged down with numerous presentation issues that result in dull characterisation. Overall an uneven experience that’s both brilliant and boring – sometimes at the same time.

I find myself a little perplexed by The Falconeer. I still thoroughly enjoyed my time with the game, but it almost felt like I was doing so in spite of how I felt about the gameplay. I do think The Falconeer is going to find an audience that loves it wholeheartedly, but also that there will be plenty of others for whom this falls a bit flat too.

Eurocom have captured the look and feel of the film perfectly and the characterisation (complete with the real cast doing voiceovers) is superb.

I think it’s important to preserve old games for future audiences, or make them available for audiences that never knew they existed. Video games, like any other art form, have a long history behind them, and a longer history ahead of them. Releases like Zwei: The Arges Adventure serve as time-capsules to help keep old pieces of history from disappearing. It’s a game very much from its time. While I appreciate the effort put into making the writing stand proudly in a modern day, gameplay flaws and dated design choices make it a chore to truly get a satisfying experience out of the game.

Sniper Ghost Warrior Contracts 2 is a particularly good sniping game. The set up is a hammy take on how superpower interventions only occur when there is a financial motivation, and comes off as a little bit awkward, but the game's regions are unique and fun to explore, enemies are tough to handle, and the challenges are fun to master. Sniper Ghost Warrior Contracts 2 should be a go to for sniper game fans.

Once you fall into the groove, Oninaki is greatly enjoyable, even if it initially falls flat because of its repetitive combat. The story heads to dark places surrounding the central theming, occasionally in a ham-fisted way, but still manages to have emotional impact. Ultimately though, Oninaki is a gem of a game if you’re persistent in putting in the work. Tokyo RPG Factory have done it again

Othercide is an evocative and absorbing tactical roguelike, albeit one whose style occasionally gets in the way of the substance.

It’s a shame that some of the new gameplay elements don’t quite fit together, but on the whole, Season Two is off to a solid start that will likely hook those who enjoyed the original.

Mafia III is a game with a great plot, great characters, and great setting, but it’s hamstrung by the repetitive nature of its mission structure. Having to go through the same tasks in each territory means a sense of fatigue enters quickly, and there isn’t much in the way of distractions within New Bordeaux to break things up. The pieces of a great game are all here, but they just don’t quite fit together.

If you can look past the steep difficulty curves, unimpressive visuals and unwieldy controls, then you will find a deep and compelling historical strategy experience that will keep you engaged for many weeks.

Strikers Edge has a strong and satisfying core, but there just isn’t enough surrounding that core experience to keep me engaged for very long. A lack of game mode variety would be excusable if there were some incentive for me to keep playing the one core mode this game has, but that incentive is nowhere to be found. Coupled with the lack of character descriptions or a proper way to practice their abilities, Strikers Edge is a lot like highschool dodgeball; you can only enjoy the same rubber ball hitting you in the teeth for so long before you decide to play something else.

Here Be Dragons is actually a well thought out and detailed game, but the lacklustre characters and plot leave a lot to be desired. Mechanically the game is wonderful, the incredible enemies and art style working fantastically, yet Here Be Dragons falls short where it matters.

Tohu is a mixed bag. It delivers such beauty and curious treasures, but it loses some of its shine thanks to tediously hard puzzles and a hint system that proves to be a greater hindrance than the actual puzzles. For those who love a challenge, Tohu will tick all the right boxes for you. However, I found it to be lacking in depth for a game that showed such promise; the trailer, imagery, and story all hold the potential to deliver more and it just falls short, or at least it did for me.

Full Void is a cool little indie game that makes the most out of its influences and offers up a nice mix of puzzling and platforming within its short playtime. While it doesn’t revolutionise the genre, it is a nice throwback to cinematic platformers of old that removes many of the more frustrating elements of its predecessors. If you remember the likes of Prince of Persia fondly then you could do a lot worse than jump into the Full Void.

After MXGP Pro settled into a hardcore dirt biking niche, MXGP 2019 surprisingly steps away from that feel just one year later. It tries to combine multiple elements like track creation and player challenges, while still representing an official championship and gets lost on the way. It’s neither an arcade racer nor a serious simulator and the end result is quite bland.

An enjoyable retro-style rogue-lite; in RAD you should expect brutal gameplay in a gaudy and synthesised world. The random nature of the world sometimes proves to be a problem, but not enough to diminish what is a fantastically loud take on the genre. If only for letting players smack about mutants with their engorged limbs and a baseball bat, RAD lives up to its name. Just try to stop playing it, you’ll struggle.

Just Cause 4 is the best entry in the series to date, offering spectacular free-wheeling destruction on a scale that’s not been attempted before. Rico remains one of gaming’s most enjoyable protagonists, but more than ever before, it’s really all about what he’s capable of doing rather than the events unfolding around him.

As you play more of Conan Exiles and access higher tier items, it becomes more and more clear that there was serious potential here. The survival aspects of the game are fun, provided survival is your thing, and it brings some new ideas and features to the table. The thrall system in particular is interesting, but ultimately fails in its execution. Considering its price, I can’t help but feel the package and its quality is a little lacking.

It provides enough entertainment and while it won’t be considered a classic it scratches the itch when you want to play something for a couple of minutes.

The Lamplighters League doesn't quite live up to its promise and expectations. There's a fun mix of real time exploration and turn-based combat, but it's a step short of the best strategy games of the year – others like Shadow Gambit: The Cursed Crew have done it better. Given more time and more engaging narrative The Lamplighters League could have been great. It will have to settle for decent at best.

There are a lot of nice touches and thoughtful features, spoiled by the presentation. Ultimately though, while I couldn't recommend WRC to just anyone, it is a solid but slightly soulless game and has the official WRC license, which if you have at least a passing interest in rally games makes this the only realistic choice.

A fun game. Despite the critical tone of much of this review, I very much enjoyed my time with Bathoryn and will be going back to try and unlock the rest of those no-hit boss achievements. It is best to go in with a clear idea of what to expect, however, which is a no-nonsense old-school hack and slash platformer fuelled by heavy metal.

Shattered - Tale of the Forgotten King is a game set in a beautiful, stylised world that is sadly too opaque and flawed to recommend.

If you’re looking for a game that has punishing fights, but is a bit easier than Souls then this is it. However the story and lore just aren’t that interesting, despite a good premise and Harkyn doesn’t have much personality. There’s also quite few bugs that really need addressing, like clipping through the environment and objects, or the enemies that just stop moving completely, yet can still deal damage, or suddenly develop the ability to fly.

The game has basically one trick up its sleeve, but a trick that it executes very smoothly.